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Agencies failed to meet a lofty goal to cut spending on new contracts considered high-risk by 10 percent. But despite the inconclusive results, contracting experts and agency procurement chiefs told Federal News Radio there's more to evaluating the effort to reduce high-risk contracts than the failure to reach the goal. Federal News Radio examines this as part of the special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.

I have been working in DOD acquisition for 25 years and I have seen the contracting culture transition from the Govt coming up with some rock solid design specifications with estimated time and cost followed by a negotiated firm fixed price and schedule to the current cost plus fixed fee and best effort approach. There is no motivation to get the job DONE or save on costs. Because many of my senior Govt supervisors see their retired colleagues pulling in 6 figures with the contractor, they plan to do the same through closed door meetings with the contractor of choice. At my office, upper management has made a full court press to outsource all technical work including design, cost and schedule estimation plus the program offices dictate the company of preference. They have made the procurement process so complicated and lengthy, it gives program offices the excuse to outsource procurements with a sizable fee tacked on. All employees that play the game right, then receive promotions. What an incestuous relationship mess it has become. Because politicians are driven by their prime contractor donors and then you have senior civil servants and military obtaining sweet retirement jobs, I do not see how any contracting culture changes will happen until the incentives go away. I am betting that these gentlemen in this article defending high-risk contracts have full intentions to take advantage of those retirement jobs.